Cracking the highest glass ceiling
Subtitle: a global comparison of women's campaigns for executive office
By: edited by Rainbow Murray
Series: Women and minorities in politics
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Santa Barbara, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 267
ISBN-13: 9780313382482; 9780313382499
Description: ""Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling is both global and systematic in its comparison of gender in election campaigns for executive office. High-quality contributions by leading scholars converge around common themes including gender stereotypes, news media coverage, and women's strategies regarding gender in the campaign and implications for election outcomes. Combining expert knowledge and systematic analysis of national campaigns with comparative insights, this volume breaks new ground on this important and cutting-edge topic and builds a solid framework for future research."--Miki Caul Kittilson, PhD Associate Professor, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University" ""Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling is the first major work to examine why women candidates for executive office have been successful in some countries but not others. With top scholars and elegant methodology, it makes a unique and foundational contribution to the literature.^

This edited volume will be widely read by scholars and students alike."---Caroline Heldman Associate Professor, Occidental College, and coeditor of Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?" "In recent years, more and more high-profile women candidates have been running for executive office in democracies all around the world. Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women's Campaigns for Executive Office is the first study to undertake an international comparison of women's campaigns for highest office and to identify the commonalities among them. For example, women candidates often begin as front-runners as the idea of a woman president captures the public imagination, followed by a decline in popularity as stereotypes and gendered media coverage kick in to erode the woman's perceived credibility as a national leader.^

On the basis of nine international case studies of recent campaigns written by thirteen country specialists, the volume develops an overarching framework which explores how gender stereotypes shape the course and outcome of women's campaigns in the male-dominated worlds of executive elections in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. This comparative approach allows the authors to discriminate between the contingent effects of a particular candidate or national culture and the universal operation of gender stereotyping. Case studies include the campaigns for executive office of Hillary Rodham Clinton (United States, 2008), Sarah Palin (United States, 2008), Angela Merkel (Germany, 2005 and 2009), Segolene Royal (France, 2007), Helen Clark (New Zealand, 1996-2008), Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Argentina, 2007), Michelle Bachelet (Chile, 2006), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia, 2005), and Irene Saez (Venezuela, 1998)."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : gender stereotypes and media coverage of women candidates / Rainbow Murray; title: "She's not my type of blonde" : media coverage of Irene Sáez's presidential bid (Venezuela 1998) / Magda Hinojosa; title: Madonna and four children : Ségolène Royal (France 2007) / Rainbow Murray; title: 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling: the rise and fall of Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for the democratic nomination for president of the United States (2008) / Dianne Bystrom; title: Sarah Palin : "beauty is beastly?" : an exploratory content analysis of media coverage (USA 2008) / Gina Serignese Woodall, Kim L. Fridkin, and Jill Carle; title: "Either way, there's going to be a man in charge" : media representations of New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark (1996-2008) / Linda Trimble and Natasja Treiberg; title: How the Iron Curtain helped break through the glass ceiling : Angela Merkel's campaigns in 2005 and 2009 / Sarah Elise Wiliarty; title: Ma Ellen : Liberia's iron lady? : (Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 2005) / Melinda Adams; title: Renegotiating political leadership : Michelle Bachelet's rise to the Chilean presidency (2006) / Susan Franceschet and Gwynn Thomas; title: Primera dama, prima donna? : media constructions of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina (2007) / Jennifer M. Piscopo; title: Conclusion : a new comparative framework / Rainbow Murray.